This PhD project aims to look at the effect of powder recycling in powder bed additive manufacturing (AM). Titanium powders are one of the most expensive materials used in AM and demand efficient usage, for example, during powder bed fusion processes, it is worth noting that most of the powder becomes unconsumed during part manufacturing, which needs recycling.
Industry is nervous about using this recycled powder, especially for the manufacturing of safety-critical parts, which makes AM part manufacturing unviable. Therefore, it is important to understand the possible hurdles in using recycled powders, so that manufacturing processes can become material efficient without compromising the structural integrity of the parts.
This PhD aim to highlight the type and mechanism of powder degradation due to recycling, by conducting in-situ and ex-situ studies using synchrotron x-rays, and mechanical and metallurgical characterisations.
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